The passage of time weighed heavily on my mind when I returned to my room. This final game meant everything. It was all or nothing. Any ordinary man would crumble and break under such intense pressure. Hell, I'm far from ordinary it nearly broke me.

The isolation didn't help ease my nerves, but, the threat of constant ridicule from the others would only make things worse. Nothing could change the course of the game anymore. The wheels were in motion. In a matter of hours, I'd face off against Nicholas in the last game. Failure wasn't an option.

A loss would cost everyone their lives. One man had to die for everyone else to survive. It wasn't fair, not by a long shot. But that was the situation. I held no sympathy for Nicholas since it was thanks to him that people lost their lives.

Honestly, killing him did nothing to my conscience. His death would free everyone. What was another death under my belt? While not the mindset of a saint, it was the one I had to have. Any hesitance from me gave Nicholas the edge over me. I couldn't let that happen, no matter what.

Soon enough, the dreaded time came. Everyone gathered in the lobby room, waiting for Caius to make his appearance. It was dead silent. Nicholas and his partner in crime, Melanie, stood at one corner of the room, while the others and I were on the other side. 

The tension in the room was palpable.

The smiles on their faces infuriated me. They didn't bother trying to hide their wickedness. Their real personalities were out in the open, and they didn't care who saw it. As far as they were concerned, they had the last game in the bag.

"You've got a lot to answer for Nicholas," Salomon broke the silence and put out his cigar. 

"Please, Salomon, try not to ruin this moment with needless chatter," Nicholas arrogantly pleaded. "You should choose your words more carefully. Never know when they might be your last."

Salomon prepared to approach the man, but Henrika got herself in between them. The last thing she wanted was to lose the old man for breaking the rules. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Salomon wouldn't have attacked Nicholas.

"Don't let him rile you up," Henrika tried to divert Salomon's anger. 

"Good evening, everyone!" Caius' joyous voice rang throughout the room as he entered with a bright smile. "It is time for the most anticipated time of the day! Game time!"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, Fedora," Melanie said. 

"Caius, I have a special request I would like to make," Nicholas approached the Game Moderator and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the familiar Caius coupon and handed it over to the man. "I would like to use my Caius coupon to alter the game for tonight."

Caius holds the coupon up to the light, smiling wickedly as usual. It was clear that it wasn't the first time Nicholas and Caius had transactions like that in the past. "How would you like to change the game this time around?"

"If possible, I would like it if Melanie and I teamed up against the other players in a winner take all game," Nicholas suggested.

"Winner take all? That sounds exciting!" Caius frantically clapped his hands together. 

"I would appreciate it if you made sure that the other players gambled all of their points before the start of the game. Because should Melanie and I win, the losing team should die."

"Arranging that will not be a problem," Caius nodded his head and ripped the ticket to shreds. His glance then turned toward us as he continued, "What a magnificent turn of events if I do say so myself."

Eyes of judgment soon affixed onto me. There was no hiding it anymore. They knew Nicholas couldn't have gotten the idea for a winner take all match unless I gave it to him. 

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Henrika spat. 

"I didn't expect anything less out of you," Klara added her input of disappointment toward me. I swallowed my tongue and kept silent. There was nothing I could say to remedy the situation. We were all in it thanks to me, and the only way out was to win. With the four of us against the two of them, it should've been an easy win. At least that's how it sounded on paper.

But, there still lied the problem of the game we'd play. While Nicholas couldn't choose the games himself, he could manipulate them to some extent. Regardless of the match, I'd have to trust in myself to make sure that he'd lose.

I didn't decide to put everything on the line to suffer defeat. It wasn't an option. I refused to let it be one. Whether the others were on my side or not, I'd defeat Nicholas and Melanie and take home my prize money.

"We're all going into the game room at once?" Salomon asked. 

"Yes," Caius nodded his head enthusiastically. "This is the first time anything like this has happened. So, you all will have to excuse my excessive amount of excitement."

"I'm about as excited as you, Fedora," responded Melanie as she placed her hands on her hips. Her sharp gaze landed on me as she continued, "I wanna get some payback on Scraggly anywhere for what he did to me."

"You deserved it, and everything else that's going to happen to you in this game." I shot back. 

"We'll see about that," My threat to the girl bounced right off her chest. She nudged her head toward Caius and ordered, "Go ahead and tell us what game we're gonna play, Fedora."

"Very well," Caius grabbed his tablet and went through the usual routine. He flipped the device over and showed everyone the display on the screen. It was a picture of stick figures hammering away at blocks of ice. "I hope you are all prepared for the exciting game of Don't Break the Ice!"

No one expressed any amusement or interest in the game. Instead, the stakes of it all weighed heavily on our minds to care what kind of match it would be. With nothing else left to say, Caius led everyone to our respective prep rooms.

I stayed in the back of the room while the others huddled around the monitor. 

"Okay, I think we got this," Henrika said after gambling away all her GP to the monitor. "There's three of us and two of them. If we play our cards right, we can take them out of the running in the first few turns."

"Don't underestimate Nicholas' intelligence or Melanie's tenacity. Strength in numbers doesn't always work." Klara warned her.

"Also, it's four against two," Salomon corrected and looked over his shoulder. He motioned for me to approach them, but I remained in my spot. I didn't deserve to team up with them, not after what I did to get that situation.

I'd ally myself with them. But, I wouldn't refer to myself as their team member.

"Don't worry about me, Salomon," I dismissed his gesture of companionship, although I appreciated it. "I understand their frustration, but--"

"Frustration? Frustration?!" Henrika broke away from the group and confronted me. She poked my chest and yelled, "We're in this mess because of you! Our lives are at risk because you went off on your own and fed Nicholas this insane idea of yours! We're infuriated! Enraged!"

"I know..." I kept my words short and sweet, knowing that nothing I said would quell the woman's anger and scorn. Nothing short of a victory would turn the woman's mood around.

"That's enough," Salomon set his hand on Henrika's shoulder and gently pulled her aside. Strangely enough, he never expressed any anger or frustration toward me. I know I deserved it. "Yelling at him won't change anything. We're all stuck in this situation together, and we'll get out of it together."

"It annoys me to agree with him, but Salomon's right. If we exclude Ambrose from the team now, it'll only add another opponent to deal with in the game." Klara added.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Henrika ran her hand through her hair, groaning in frustration as she pushed me over to the monitor. "Hurry up and gamble your GP. The sooner we get through with this, the better."

"It's okay, we'll win this," I declared. I went through the menus and gambled away all my points as promised. There was no going back. I put everything on the line along with everyone else. It was either victory or death. 

"You don't know that for sure," Klara called me out on my bluff. Even my attempts to lighten the mood in the team couldn't go by unnoticed by the girl's sharp eyes. 

With everything said and done, the door to the game room opened. Everyone steadily proceeded forward, where Melanie and Nicholas waited. 

"'Bout time you losers showed up! What took you so long, huh?" Melanie called out to us. But at that point, no one was stupid enough to respond to the girl's provocations. It was a waste of time. 

"It was a pleasure meeting you all up to this point. I wish things could have gone differently." Nicholas added to the provocation with a false smile. 

"Don't speak as if you've won," I demanded. Melanie, I could tolerate to a certain degree, but Nicholas was another matter. I swore to make sure the bastard got everything he deserved for toying with everyone's lives. We weren't his puppets. 

 "Is everyone ready for the game to begin?" Caius' voice rang from the intercoms in the ceiling. The center section of the floor split open, allowing a single table to rise from the open space. On the said table were six sledgehammers. "Please take one," He instructed.

Everyone followed his instructions and collected one of the sledgehammers. Afterward, the entire floor rose about fifteen feet in the air. I looked over the edge and saw many pillars that kept us hoisted up on the platform.

"Heights again?" Henrika complained, mostly like she had flashbacks to her previous game against Salomon. 

The walls in the room also split open, allowing copious amounts of water to flood inside. 

"What's Caius planning now?" Salomon inquired.

"Now then, allow me to explain the rules before you all begin! The game aims to knock your opponents off the platform into the cold, freezing water down below. The two teams will take turns using those sledgehammers to strike the panels of the platform, thus removing spots for your opponent's throughout the game. Be careful though, as some panels are connected to others in more ways than one. The last team standing will be declared the winner."

"Easy enough to remember," Melanie rests the sledgehammer on her shoulder and smirks. 

"Having now explained the rules, I give the go-ahead for the game to begin! Since Nicholas' team has the disadvantage, I permit them to start things off." Caius announced.

"Since I am a gentleman, I will let you have the first move, Melanie," Nicholas nodded.

"How kind of you, Shades," Melanie stepped forward and examined the panels in front of her. After giving it some thought, she slammed her sledgehammer down on the one to her right. Red X's appeared on random panels before they fell into the water below. Thankfully, none of those belonged to us. "Damn! No luck!"

"There will be plenty of opportunities to get them," Nicholas assured her, showing no signs of concerns about the progress of the game. After all, it was only the first move.

"Which one of us should go first?" Henrika asked, looking for anyone to show an ounce of eagerness to make the first move. 

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I'll do it," I stepped up and raised my sledgehammer. I brought it down on the panel in front of me. I didn't spot any red X's appear on the panels in front of me. So, I turned to find that they showed up behind me. One of them was right underneath Henrika. "Henrika! Move!" I shouted.

Henrika looked down and spotted the X. She let out a yell and moved out of the way before it plummeted into the water.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing!" She pointed her sledgehammer at me.

"Sorry!" I quickly apologized. One thing I know I didn't want to do was knock my allies into the water. 

"Hey! That's cheating! You can't dodge it!" Melanie complained.

"Settle down, Melanie. The rules never stated that they could not do that." Nicholas corrected her.

Melanie clicks her tongue and annoyance, "Fine!"

"My turn now," Nicholas hit the spot to his left. No X's appeared on the platform at that time. Instead, only the spot he hit fell to the water. "Well, that is awkward."

"I'mma need you to do better than that, Shades," Melanie demanded. Even during the game with their lives on the line, they felt no tension or fear in their situation. We outnumbered them, and they didn't give a damn. Their confidence, no, their arrogance blocked out their doubts of losing. 

That was something I wanted to exploit.

"I'll go this time. Keep an eye out," Salomon warned everyone, which was a fair move when I considered how random the selection in the game was. The old man struck a spot with his sledgehammer. A bunch of X's appeared around the platform. That time, the panels underneath Melanie and Nicholas got marked.

The duo moved to separate spots and witnessed their panels descend into the water. 

"Alright, one of you are takin' that ice bath this time," Melanie taunted. She playfully pointed her sledgehammer at the area in front of her. Her Cheshire smile appeared when she made her decision. Her sledgehammer contacted its intended spot. No X's popped up that time. "Fuck!"

"Calm yourself, Melanie. It is a random process." Nicholas said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Melanie snapped at him. It wasn't that far into the game, and their partnership already seemed like it was on the brink of collapse.

"Wish me good luck," Henrika decided to go that time. She took a few deep breaths and chose her target. Upon impact, the X's appeared. No one was in danger of falling, so no one bothered to move from their positions once the panels fell. 

 "Perhaps, this one?" Nicholas made his move. The panels underneath my teammates and I got marked. We desperately moved to the unmarked ones. "So close," The man complained.

Klara quickly chose a spot and struck it with her sledgehammer. That woman was in no mood for the game itself. Thankfully, no other panels fell to the water beside the one she hit.

"You know what, fuck this!" Melanie raised her sledgehammer and dashed across the platform. Her target was Klara, but I intercepted and forced the girl back with a swing of my hammer. "Outta my way, Scraggly!" She demanded and pointed her sledgehammer at me.

Her demands didn't threaten me in the slightest. I'd already dealt with the girl once. Doing it again didn't bother me. I wouldn't let her or Nicholas harm anyone else. Not on my watch.

"You're gonna have to get through me if you want any of them," I told her. Sure, it was a cheesy line, but I wanted her to know my intentions to stop her.

"Fine by me!" Melanie approached me and swung her sledgehammer around like a mad woman. Thankfully, her swings were wide and predictable, so they weren't anywhere close to hitting me. Her last strike hit one of the panels. The X's appeared and sent multiple spots into the water.

Unfortunately, Klara occupied one of those spots. The woman fell into the water. 

"Klara!" I looked over the edge for any sign of the woman. Her head popped up above the surface within seconds, but it didn't mean she was out of danger.

"We have one person in the water!" Caius joyfully announced. "The temperature is below freezing! So, Klara will start suffering the effects of hypothermia in a matter of fifteen minutes!"

"God damn it! We gotta get here out of there!" I yelled to Henrika and Salomon. By the time I looked back, Melanie's sledgehammer had come close to bashing my head in. 

That would've been in the case if not for Salomon, who came in and grabbed the shaft of the object, stopping it nearly inches away from my head. The old man disarmed Melanie and kicked her in the gut. The girl stumbled back over to Nicholas, coughing violently. 

"It's not your turn anymore," Salomon casually tossed the girl's sledgehammer into the water.

"Fucking old man!" Melanie growled through her clenched teeth.

"Is there some way we can get Klara out of there?!" Henrika desperately called out to us. Watching Klara float around in the freezing water disrupted our focus. 

"Only way is by winning," Salomon concluded and made the next move. He struck a panel and watched the X's appear randomly on the spots again. None of them belonged to our enemies.

"Hmmm, so it is not against the rules to physically force them off the platform," Nicholas brought his finger to his chin with a sadistic grin. From there, he handed his sledgehammer over to Melanie. "Go ahead and run wild, Melanie."

"Thought you'd never ask," Melanie accepted the sledgehammer and rushed us again. As long as she didn't hit any of the panels, then it'd always stay on her turn. 

That time, she went for Henrika. That damn girl acted like a predator; always targeting those that strayed from the pack. But, she made a mistake in thinking that Henrika was a poor, defenseless woman. Henrika showed no hesitance or fear in facing Melanie in battle. The woman dodged the first swing with ease and reacted with a swing from her sledgehammer as well. 

Melanie jumped back and smiled. "Didn't think you had any fight in you, Fatass."

"Like hell, I'm going to let a psycho bitch like you kill me," Henrika countered. Just when they prepared to clash again, Salomon and I joined up with her, ready to take the psychopath head on. 

Melanie gritted her teeth, knowing she couldn't handle all three of us at once. If she wanted to attack, she'd end up down in the water in no time. 

"Alright, alright, I get it," Melanie tapped her sledgehammer against one of the panels. The X's appeared again. It forced all three of us to separate and find safe areas on the platform. There weren't that many footholds left for us. 

I went ahead and made my move for the team. I chose a spot and hit it. I didn't spot any X's until Henrika called out to me. My gaze dropped to my feet. And there it was — that dreadful X.

The nearest spot was isolated, but I made the jump and safely landed there.

"Fatass is all alone," Melanie happily taunted and twirled the sledgehammer in her hand.

"Focus on her teammates instead," Nicholas demanded. Melanie frowned but ultimately followed his lead.

"Which one of you wants to take a dip next? The old man? Or Scraggly?" Melanie asked.

"How about you?" Salomon took everyone by surprise and rushed Melanie. He swung his sledgehammer at her before she could make a decision.

Melanie ducked and rolled out of the way. "What the fuck, old man?! It's my goddamn turn!"

"It was never stated I couldn't attack you during yours!" Salomon pointed out another loophole in the rules. He chased Melanie around the platform in hopes of eliminating her early. Without Melanie; Nicholas wouldn't be much of a threat.

"Back off!" Melanie cried out and struck a random spot with her sledgehammer. X's appeared as usual; one of them marked Henrika's panel. However, from her position, she wouldn't reach safety.

"Henrika!" I yelled and ran over to the nearest edge. I extended my sledgehammer out. "Jump and grab the hammer! I'll pull you up!"

"You're crazy!" Henrika yelled back but complied with my plan nonetheless. She leaped from her spot and reached out in hopes of grabbing her only method of salvation. She caught it and held on for dear life, nearly dragging me over the edge.

I gripped the shaft of the hammer and pulled with all my might.

"Pull me up! Pull me up!" Henrika cried out.

"I'm...trying..." I grunted. "You're just too..."

"I swear to God if you say that I'm heavy. I'll kill you!" She warned me.

"I've got you!" Salomon came up and helped me pull Henrika back onto the platform.

"Thanks you two," Henrika said through heavy breaths. 

"Don't thank us yet. The game's not--" 

Suddenly the back of Salomon's head got struck. The old man fell forward and off the platform, into the freezing, unforgiving water below. 

"Salomon!" Henrika shouted.

"I've got him!" Klara announced. She dove underwater in search of him.

Meanwhile, Henrika and I moved our attention to the perpetrator behind the cowardly attack. Of course, it was Melanie. She looked at the blood on her hammer as if she were in a frenzy. 

"That's two down," Melanie smiled at us and pointed her hammer at us. "Two more to go."

"You god damn bitch!" Henrika lunged at Melanie and tackled the girl to the ground. Once she had her pinned, she grabbed her sledgehammer and forced it against her neck, strangling her. "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!"

Melanie spat in Henrika's eye, granting her the opportunity to kick Henrika back over to me. I lost my footing, sending us both over the edge. In a desperate attempt, I grabbed the side of the platform and reached out for Henrika with my spare hand. But it was too late for her.

The woman fell into the water with my other partners. 

Pain surged through my hand once Melanie's boot stomped down on my fingers. 

"Well, isn't this a pretty sight?" Melanie taunted me again. It never crossed my mind that I'd find myself in such a vulnerable situation. "You talked all that shit earlier and look where you are now."

"Quit it with the idle chatter and finish this, Melanie," Nicholas ordered.

"Shut the fuck up, Shades! Lemme have my fun!" Melanie flipped him off and then returned her sadistic gaze to me. "Any last words you wanna say to me before you die with the rest of them?"

"You know, if you win this game, you'll die too," I warned her. It hit me at that moment as to why Melanie would team up with Nicholas despite their differences in goals. 

"What?" Melanie blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding the meaning behind my statement.

"Quit talking with him and end the game!" Nicholas approached, more than prepared to kick me over the edge himself. However, he stopped once Melanie pointed her sledgehammer at him. 

"Stop right there, Shades. I wanna hear this," Melanie told him. "Whaddya mean I'll die if we win?"

"Nicholas told me how he wanted to kill everyone in the games, including you. The moment you win the game, you'll die alongside everyone else. It'll all go according to his plan." I told her, playing off my knowledge about her fear of death.

"He is lying to you, Melanie! It is the desperate, pathetic ramblings of a beaten man!" Nicholas yelled. His calm and collected composure vanished at that moment.

"Come on; you knew from the beginning that he's been using you for his agenda. He never gets his own hands dirty unless he has no other options. And as long as you keep teaming with him; you're that other option. He can't win without you." I continued to plant my seeds of doubt in her mind, regardless if they were the truth or not. I saw it on the girl's face. It slowly took root. Her stance on my fingers eased up little by little. She needed a few gentle pushes in the right direction. 

"That is complete and utter nonsense!" Nicholas objected. "You should listen to me, Melanie! Remember the terms of our partnership? You help me get what I want, and you get to keep all the money! I do not want a single cent of it! It is all yours for the taking!"

His words struck her as well. While I played to her fear, he played to her greed. At that moment, I genuinely feared which side of her would take control. If I couldn't convince Melanie to betray Nicholas, then it was all over for everyone.

"You don't find it strange that he doesn't want any money despite coming here?" I called out to Melanie. "What else could he possibly want? Do you know?"

"...He never told me," Melanie shook her head.

"He wants a membership into this organization. The only way inside for him is to win this game by being the sole survivor," I relayed the information that Nicholas himself gave me. Hopefully, the man's arrogance would bring about his downfall. He told me everything he wanted because he felt I couldn't stop him. "Say you win, and we die, it'll only be the two of you. Nicholas knows he'll have trouble killing you, so that's why he wants to end it this way, just so that he doesn't get his hands dirty."

"Lies! It is all lies!" Nicholas shouted.

"I don't know, Shades," Melanie brought her finger to her chin as if she needed the time to process the sudden information. "Scraggly isn't smart enough to make up such convincin' bullshit on the spot. Plus, you've been makin' me do all the dirty work since our partnership. Even in this game."

"Melanie, think about what you are doing!" Nicholas said. "You are going to let him ruin everything we have done to this point? For what?"

Melanie removed her foot off my hand and turned her back to me. "I'm pretty sure Scraggly's tellin' the truth. You've been actin' pretty fuckin' scared every since he's been talkin'." She pointed out the man's frantic change in behavior.

"That is because his ramblings are completely idiotic! And you are falling for them!"

"Ah, so you're callin' me stupid now?" Melanie inquired and playfully tilted her head to the side. With that, she slowly approached Nicholas with her sledgehammer at the ready. "Tell me the truth, Shades. You plannin' on killin' me with the rest of 'em?"

"What are you doing, Melanie? Your enemy is right behind you!" Nicholas quickly backed away with hands up. Meanwhile, I pulled myself back up onto the platform and grabbed the sledgehammer off the floor. 

If I remembered correctly, it was my turn. While the two were distracted, I hit one of the panels in hopes of taking them both out at once. The X's appeared on numerous spots. Nicholas stood on one of the safety areas. 

Melanie jumped over and landed on the same spot as her "partner."

"Now we can have a little chat about our partnership, huh, Shades?" The pink-haired girl smiled at him. Nicholas gritted his teeth and tried to take the sledgehammer from her. 

"You stupid girl! Things did not have to go this way! Why do you always have to make things so difficult?!" Nicholas yelled.

"My therapist said I've always had an anti-authoritarian attitude!" Melanie snapped back with a laugh. However, a well-placed knee to her stomach silenced her. The girl slumped over and let go of the hammer.

"Go ahead and die with the rest of them,"

"You first!" Melanie sank her teeth into Nicholas' neck. An excruciating cry left the man's mouth before he shoved the girl off the panel and into the water. 

"That marks another elimination! We are now down to the final two! Nicholas and Ambrose! Which one will reign supreme?" Caius' voice boomed from the intercom.

"God damn it! That fucking bitch!" Nicholas angrily cursed the downed girl and proceeded to spit into the water. Blood poured profusely from his neck. Probably tore through an artery with her teeth.

"Psychopath's," I shrugged my shoulders and smirked at the man. "Very unpredictable. It probably wasn't the smartest choice to have her as a partner in crime."

"Go ahead and get out as many jokes as you can, Ambrose. Everything will come to an end here..." Nicholas staggered and moved his hand to his neck. It shook violently as he removed it and stared at his bloody palm. "B-Blood? M-M-My own blood?!" The man panicked.

His cheeks swelled up, and his face paled. His squeamishness gave me the opportunity to end it all. I threw caution to the wind and made my gamble. I tossed the sledgehammer aside and rushed him.

"It's over, Nicholas!" I shouted.

"Go to hell!" He responded and swung his sledgehammer in a fit of rage. I ducked under the object and landed a swift punch to the man's solar plexus. His legs buckled and he fell off the platform. The satisfying sound of him hitting the water brought a broad smile to my face.

The fantastic fanfare that blared through the room announced my victory. It was finally over. 

"That marks the end of the game! The winner is player number twelve, Troy Ambrose!" Caius announced. 

All the strength in my body left me. I dropped to my knees, crying tears of joy. Despite the hell I went through, it was finally over. With Nicholas' defeat, the prize money was as good as mine. The bar, my home, it was as good as saved.

The only thing left to do was escape from Serendipity.